Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Pine by Francine Toon

32 reviews

liltakeawaygirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Grief, and Bullying

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Alcoholism

elysianbud's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I tried reading this ages ago and DNF'd it. Picked it up again and gave it another chance and actually really enjoyed myself. Creepy and mysterious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Grief, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Bullying, Blood, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, and Animal death

siobhanward's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

 

This was a solid read but it almost felt unfinished. There was so much build up and then things were resolved and there was nothing... No actual consequences for the crime or even much of a resolution beyond "this is what happened and this is who did it." Toon was a solid storyteller for the majority of the book, so it was a bit of a surprise when the book just kind of ended. The atmosphere was creepy and the whole book kept me feeling uneasy. I just wish the ending had been as strong as the rest!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Bullying

feelingpeachygreen's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Incredibly atmospheric, glorious sense of place. 

BUT - all the action happened in the last 20 pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Alcoholism

a_violentfemme's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I wanted so much to love this book and the premise sounded just my thing but it feel a bit flat for me overall. I enjoyed the supernatural elements but felt the thriller aspect was rushed and not as well fleshed out as other parts of the story 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Murder, Alcoholism, Bullying, Addiction, and Alcohol

lynxpardinus's review

dark mysterious reflective tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, and Bullying

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Murder, Kidnapping, Vomit, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

abbyisabellas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Murder and Bullying

_gess_reads_'s review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

First 75% was pretty slow, however, the setting and tone are beautifully described so the slow pace didn't bother me too much. The mix of crime + supernatural + wicca was interesting, though I feel like their presence stayed on a surface level, instead of going in depth or even focussing on one aspect which would have added to the story, I think. The end feels a bit rushed, definitely could have elaborate further than just

Lauren takes after her mother and Niall went to therapy

. Enjoyed it overall though, love the spooky Highlands vibes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

Minor: Pedophilia

hnelson510's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

The Good: This book has many atmospheric moments, some truly scary. The imagery is strong and sticks in your mind.
The Bad: There was a point during reading this book that I was so confused and frustrated at the sheer number of characters introduced that I started noting them all with post-it’s. I counted 67 explicitly named characters. This is not GoT or the first in a series. I’d safely say that at a minimum 50 of these characters could have been edited out, or combined, and not only would the story have been EXACTLY the same, the reading experience would have been much more enjoyable. The page/word count of this book could have been reduced quite a bit if Toon had stepped away from the name generator.

The pacing is also all over the place, as the first 275 pages are meandering and slow, but 85% of the action/story takes place in the last 50 pages. I got a bit of whiplash, and not in a way that I found enjoyable.

The Ugly: On page 188, a character who is friendly with the protagonist, Lauren, defends Lauren to bullies by using “lesbian” as a slur. This is not addressed or reconciled in anyway, and actually seems to be one of the only things that stops the bully character from escalating. I was already hate-reading at that point, but I really almost put it down when I saw that. Super causal homophobia in an otherwise subpar book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia

kaityreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Bullying

Minor: Animal death